


Sweet Taste of Defeat

by sifra_a3



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Study, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, Swearing, Texting, Wrong Number AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:15:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24428608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sifra_a3/pseuds/sifra_a3
Summary: Banri Settsu lived, as he called it himself, life on ´Super Ultra Easy Mode´, which basically means that he never put any effort into anything and was arrogant as hell. Studying, singing, sports, fighting, name it and he could do it, first try. Always one step ahead of, well, everybody. That was just the way his life was.--He had many admirers, (both female and male) and many people who were equally intimidated and jealous whenever he was around. Both the admirers and the haters had one thing in common: their feelings were based on their image of him, on his achievements, on his status, his popularity. No one liked (or disliked) him just for who he was: his personality, his strengths, his weaknesses.That is, until one day, Banri got a message from an unknown number.The one fic where Juza texts the wrong number and that is where it all goes downhill
Relationships: Hyoudou Juuza & Hyoudou Kumon, Hyoudou Juuza & Nanao Taichi, Hyoudou Juuza & Nanao Taichi & Sumeragi Tenma, Hyoudou Juuza & Settsu Banri, Hyoudou Juuza & Sumeragi Tenma, Hyoudou Juuza/Settsu Banri, Hyoudou Kumon/Izumida Azami, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Nanao Taichi & Sumeragi Tenma
Comments: 7
Kudos: 85





	1. Someone Worth Fighting (For)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first fic ever, so it´s probably not that good, but I still hope you´ll enjoy it!

Banri Settsu lived, as he called it himself, life on ´Super Ultra Easy Mode´, which basically means that he never put any effort into anything and was arrogant as hell. Studying, singing, sports, fighting, name it and he could do it, first try. Always one step ahead of, well, everybody. That was just the way his life was.

He was 17 years old now and the excitement and pride that came with each victory had long faded. Frankly, he could not recall the last time that he had felt pride for being praised. Everything felt dull to him, so he was always looking for something that made him feel again, be it new hobbies, or just fighting other people.

Being naturally good at everything and not ever having any struggles that most people had to deal with, did not only leave him with an emptiness in his heart, but also a severe lack of empathy for those who did have those struggles. It didn´t matter how good-looking, or talented, or charming he could be, because of this, he never had any real friends.

He had many admirers though, (both female and male) and many people who were equally intimidated and jealous whenever he was around. Both the admirers and the haters had one thing in common: their feelings were based on their image of him, on his achievements, on his status, his popularity. No one liked (or disliked) him just for who he was: his personality, his strengths, his weaknesses.

That is, until one day, Banri got a message from an unknown number.

All of this started on a Tuesday, in the beginning of the fall. Banri was sitting in his room, having already finished all his schoolwork. He was sitting on his mobile phone, mindlessly scrolling through his social medias and every now and then, he checked in on his mobile game, using his SP. A new event was going on, but it was only for Banri’s fourth best girl. Still, Banri had no trouble staying in the top 1%, though the username Taruichi was still glaring at him from its first place on the leader board. ‘Whoever that is, they must have no life', Banri thought to himself. He turned off his phone and let himself fall backwards on his bed. Sighing deeply, he thought about what he could do to get rid of the boredom.

Earlier that day, some punk whose face and name Banri couldn’t remember, had challenged him to a fight, but Banri had quickly shut him up. After the fight (if you could even call it that), Banri realised with disdain that even fighting didn’t seem to do much for him anymore. He had decided to skip the last two lessons and went straight to his house.

Now he was staring at the ceiling, weighing the pros and cons of attempting to rob a bank, in his head. He could definitely do it, he thought to himself. He had seen enough movies and played enough games to know the basics and he could easily come up with a plan, including an escape plan. But the eventual rush he would get from doing that would only last a few days at most, and he was not sure if he was too keen on completely going down the criminal path. Well, at least it wouldn’t be as boring.

Before Banri’s thoughts could spiral too much and he'd look up what he would need to become a yakuza member, the sound of a notification from his phone, which he was still clutching in his hand, interrupted his thoughts. Annoyed, he brought the phone to his face, peering at the screen.

Banri would often get messages from people asking if he wanted to go hang out with them, going to the karaoke or the mall and even the occasional case of people trying to slide in his DM'S, desperately trying to get his attention.

That was also a thing. Even though he was one of the most popular guys in school, he had never shown any romantic interest in anyone. Sexual attraction, sure, but that was just not the same. That is why there were quite a few people who wanted to date him, not because they were in love with him, but because they could say: ´That´s right, **I´M** the one who was good enough for **BANRI SETTSU**.´ It was a pain, but Banri couldn´t really give less of a damn. At first, it was kinda funny and interesting to see what people would come up with, but after a while, it just became pathetic.

This, however, was not one of those things (unless this was a new flirting technique that Banri had never heard of called ´aggressive´). It was a message from an unknown number.

´ _Let´s be very clear. I don´t want to fight you, but_ ´

Banri frowned slightly at the notification. Usually, people told him that they DID want to fight him, or at least they didn´t explicitly say that they didn´t. Besides, how did this person get his personal number anyway? And what did they mean with ´but´? With Banri´s interest just slightly piqued, he pushed himself upright and clicked on the notification. The chat opened and the message was displayed on the screen.

Banri could not see the person´s username or profile picture. He was about to type a snarky reply, but then he noticed the other person typing.

_´I know what you did to Kumon. ´_

Banri slightly deflated at that. He had not done anything to anyone named Kumon, at least not that he was aware of. This probably meant that the person who sent the text meant to text it to someone else. That would explain why this person had his number: maybe someone gave them the wrong number, or they mistyped it. ´Maybe check if you have the right number, before you text something personal like that´, Banri murmured to himself, annoyed at the person who was wasting his time right now (deep down, he also felt a twinge of disappointment, which he stubbornly ignored). ´What a fucking dumbass. ´ Just out of spite, he decided to reply. It was not his fault that this person couldn´t get a number right.

**´So what? ´**

The status of the message immediately turned to ´ _read_ ´. Then, the other person started typing again.

_´I will not allow you to hurt him´_

Immediately followed by:

_´No matter what´_

Banri silently pondered over this for a few seconds. It seemed like this person was going to do something horrible to whoever did hurt this Kumon person. If the guy actually did something really bad to Kumon, maybe Banri should tell this person that they got the wrong guy, so they could threaten and fight the person who actually deserved it. Besides, in the long run, it would just create a whole lot of misunderstandings and drama if he kept this up and Banri did not want any part of that. That is what he told himself at least, as he started to type.

´Look, I have no idea who the fuck Kumon is or who you´re supposed to be. You clearly got the wrong number idiot´

Banri was ready to press send and forget all of this ever happened. But he hesitated.

Most people he fought, were people that were trying to ´put him in his place´. People that were fighting for themselves. But this person, whoever they were, clearly was willing to fight for someone else. And even though Banri couldn´t understand why someone would ever need someone else to fight their battles, he did understand that this would be fight for a cause. _Maybe that is just what he needed,_ a small voice in the back of his head said. _A challenge. Someone who didn´t fight for the sake of fighting. Someone who actually fought with passion, with motivation. Someone worth fighting._

Another, smaller voice, one that Banri did not hear that much in his life, interrupted. _Dude, what the hell is wrong with you? You´re gonna beat up someone who is only fighting you to protect someone they care about? That´s just messed up. And say they do manage to land a few hits on you? You´re not the one their anger is aimed at. Plus, the person who did hurt Kumon goes unpunished. What if they do it again? Not only does Kumon get hurt, you´ll also have to fight this person again, until the real culprit stops or you have to say: ´Hey, funny thing, I know I beat you up last time we met, but I´m actually not the person who bothered Kumon, I just needed your anger aimed at me so you´d help me be less bored. ´ In that case, better buy a red nose and a wig, since you´re already a fucking clown._

 _Geez man,_ the first voice said _, for someone who never shows up, you sure have an attitude, by which I mean you´re being a little bitch. Since when do we care about other people? Besides, if they turn out to be a worthy opponent, we could consider helping them beat the shit out of the other guy afterwards. At least this way we got something to do, right? Or did you want to go back to planning our career as a criminal?_

Banri considered all of this for a bit, his finger still hovering above the send button. At last, he made his decision.

 **´I´m not scared of you´** , he typed, ´ **name a time and place. ´**

He hit send.

And for the first time in a long time, he felt something, deep inside of him. Back then he would have denied it if you´d asked him, but at that moment, on a regular Tuesday afternoon, Banri Settsu felt excited for the future for the first time in a long while.


	2. Never Had A Cavity (Never Had Nobody As Sweet As You)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the other side of the line, his friend let out a sound what was probably supposed to be sympathetic, but ended up sounding like a poorly concealed snort of amusement.
> 
> 'What about you? Had to jump into any more ponds to escape your small horde of fangirls after you got lost in the park for an hour even though there was literally only one pathway, which led directly to the exit?' He teased back.
> 
> He could hear his friend spluttering on his side of the line, no doubt looking flustered.  
> 'Okay, first of all, I didn't JUMP, I FELL. Second of all, that only happened like two or three times and third of all, can you PLEASE stop bringing that up? It's worse enough that you filmed it last time instead of helping me, I don't need you to remind me any more.'  
> Though the last part sounded more like a whine than a question, Banri knew that his friend wasn't actually upset at him. Or at least not THAT much.
> 
> He snickered good-naturedly. 'Hey, at least I got your good side.'  
> 'Implying that I have a bad side?'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote chapter 1 of this story, then never looked at it again :))  
> Okay but for real, I am kinda sorry I just dropped ch 1 and then dipped, I really like the concept, I'm just not a very good writer  
> But I was procrastinating schoolwork and wrote this 3K chapter to make up for it :) 
> 
> Featuring: detention, texting, candy and a LOT of cameo's that I didn't initially plan
> 
> Song title is from Sweet Tooth by Cavetown  
> Also I apologise for all the non-Japanese elements, I couldn't really find any Japanese replacements

_5 days until the fight_

_You and me. Behind the old factory at the outskirt of town. Sunday 3 PM._

**_I’ll be there._ **

It was the next day now and Banri was sitting in class, not-so-discreetly looking at the message for what felt like the hundredth time already since he received it. He couldn’t understand for the love of god why he was getting so excited about this, but it felt like it was slowly taking over his thoughts.  
  
A small voice in his head tried to diffuse the situation somewhat by reminding him that he wasn’t sure if it would even be a good fight and that it might not be worth to get all worked up about this in a long shot.  
Banri, as he did with all warnings in his life, dismissed it.  
  
Something deep inside of him convinced him that this was going to be different. Not a brawl in the school courtyard or in an abandoned alleyway. He couldn’t quite explain it, but somehow, he couldn’t suppress the excitement towards Sunday.  
  
Of course, he knew that it wouldn’t be anything lifechanging or anything; he didn’t live in some cheesy manga or an anime. But he was sure that this would keep him busy for at least a good while and hey, at this point, he’d take anything he could get. Beggars can’t be choosers and all that. He wasn’t stupid enough to let an opportunity like this go to-  
  
‘Mr. Settsu, can you please tell me what could be so interesting on that phone that you have to disturb my lesson for it?’ Fuck. His teacher, Ms. Taketa rudely interrupted his inner monologue. Annoyed, Banri shoved his phone into his pocket and shot her a fake smile.  
‘Sorry miss. I was just looking at this video of an acting parrot, which, may I say, was WAY more interesting than this class.' His fake smile dropped into a smirk. 'But to be fair, that’s not very hard now, is it?’  
  
-  
  
This is how Banri found himself at 3 PM in an empty classroom in detention. He groaned loudly out of frustration and dropped his head on the table. Mr. Taniguchi, the teacher who was supposed to supervise him, had just left to get some coffee or some shit like that. Banri couldn’t remember and conveniently also didn’t care.  
  
He guessed he should have seen this coming, but to be fair, he hadn’t planned to say that. Though he could appreciate the snickers that rose from the class and the look on the teacher’s face, he’d actually planned to lie and politely apologize to her and NOT have his afternoon wasted on this bullshit. But you know, sometimes life doesn’t go the way you want to, right?  
Seated at the window, he lifted his head and started staring out the window, like some anime protagonist.  
  
A young boy with black hair and tan bangs was being ogled by some teenage girls, the boy in question not sparing them a second glance. Banri slightly smirked at the sight, knowing all too well what it felt like.  
  
During lunch that day, a girl had come over and confessed her love to him. (He had turned her down of course; he didn’t have any desire to date her and more importantly, he didn’t even know her.)  
  
A few feet away, a young redheaded boy, (who Banri might have seen during one of his classes), was walking in a hurried pace to the gates, holding some papers in his hand, which had his complete attention. He almost ran into the black-haired boy and seemed to give a quick apology before he rushed away again, clutching the papers to his chest. The black-haired boy did not seem to care at all, not even acknowledging the clumsy encounter.  
  
Banri glanced at the clock on the other side of the wall. 3:07 PM. Silently, he cursed his big mouth and (because he wasn’t the best at admitting his mistakes) also the stranger for consuming his thoughts and getting him into this hell. The teacher still hadn’t returned. God, how long did making that coffee take? Banri was half convinced that the moment the teacher saw Banri, he decided to just fucking book it. He considered doing the same thing, but seeing as he already skipped two hours the day before, he figured that he couldn’t be caught skipping things for the rest of the week.  
Even when it was something as boring and pointless as this.  
  
After two more minutes and the teacher still not having returned, he pulled out his phone and opened Instagram. He kinda scrolled through his feed for a few minutes, but his mind kept wandering to the stranger. As if on instinct, he opened the chat once again, not really doing anything. After a few seconds of just scrolling through the chat and answering other messages, he turned off his phone and was about to shove it back in his pocket, when he suddenly got a notification sound.  
  
Immediately, he turned on his phone again and looked at the screen. Can you pick up… The rest of the message got cut off, but Banri immediately noticed that it was from the unknown number. He clicked it and the chat opened again.  
  
(3:09) _Can you pick up some Nerds candy (AN: I just looked up sweetest candies in the world, don't judge me) from the store please?_  
  
Okay, what the actual fuck.  
  
Why did this stranger, who made an appointment to get his ass kicked not even a day ago, ask him to pick up fucking Nerds candy.  
The hell? Needless to say, Banri was to put it lightly, utterly confused.  
  
(3:09) **What the fuck**  
(3:10) **Do it yourself or something, I'm not gonna do that shit**  
  
In his head, Banri started to form two potential answers as to why whatever was happening right now was, you know, happening.  
  
One: this was some kind of weird psychological slash intimidation trick, designed to throw him off his rhythm right before the match. If that was actually the case, Banri had to admit he was slightly impressed. And confused. Mostly confused.  
  
Two: this person was a small, very tiny child and/or the dumbest person on earth and Banri was not sure which one he'd prefer.  
  
His attention got drawn to his phone once again as the soft ping of an incoming message sounded in the empty classroom.  
  
(3:12) _Shit_  
(3:12) _Ignore that, that wasn't meant for you_  
  
(3:12) **Hmm**  
(3:13) **Exactly how many unknown numbers do you have in your phone for u to confuse me with**  
  
Banri wasn't sure _why_ he was even responding to that. Maybe he was hoping to find some way to handle this guy or conveniently discover some weaknesses. Maybe he was just so bored out of his mind that he'd do anything to distract himself.  
Or perhaps it had finally happened and he'd gone insane.  
  
It was probably the latter.  
  
(3:15) _None_  
  
(3:15) **oh okay so ur just a regular idiot thanks for letting me know**  
  
(3:16) _Shut_ _up_  
(3:16) _Our conversation was on the top of my list so I just clicked it by accident_  
  
(3:16) **Wait wait our texts from a whole fucking day ago was your last conv???**  
  
(3:17) _What._  
(3:17) _What is conv?_  
  
(3:17) **wow**  
(3:18) **You ARE an idiot, i knew it**  
(3:18) **Conv as in CONV-ersation**  
(3:18) **Couldn’t you get that from the context dumbass**  
(3:19) **Wait does this mean ur like either 8 or 80**  
(3:19) **Old** **man**  
(3:20) **(Or woman idc)**  
  
(3:21) _I look away from my phone for 5 seconds, why the fuck do I have 7 new messages_  
(3:21) _That isn't even a real acronym_  
(3:22) _It's not my fault that I don't type like a 14-year-old who thinks that knowing memes is a personality trait._  
(3:23) _What does it even matter if you're the last person I texted?_  
  
(3:23) **Dude don’t u have any friends at all**  
(3:24) **I bet you don't**  
  
There was a significantly longer period of silence after this text. With a satisfied grin, Banri leaned back in his chair a bit. He threw a quick glance at the window again, noting that the boy from before had left. Oh well. Banri had more important things to focus on now anyway.  
  
When his phone softly pinged again, he wondered whether it'd be weird to give the stranger a personal notification sound. His mind fleetingly drifted towards P!nks' 'So what?'.  
  
' _I want to start a fight_ ' indeed.  
  
(3:29) _Says the guy who is replying to a message that wasn't even meant for him._  
  
Banri laughed at that. Oh, _if only he knew._  
  
(3:29) **Well that’s actually also your fault anyway**  
(3:30) **Thanks to you i'm in detention**  
(3:30) **So if I have to suffer you just have to suffer with me**  
  
(3:32) _That doesn't even make any sense_  
(3:33) _How is it MY fault that YOU got yourself landed in detention?_  
  
Banri couldn't really say ' _I couldn't stop thinking about you and looking at your message...during class_ ', now could he? Banri was many things, but emotionally available was NOT one of those things.  
  
(3:33) **Idk**   
(3:35) **You just seem like the kind of person who gets other people in trouble just by existing you know**  
  
Again, the stranger on the other side fell silent. After a minute or so had passed, Banri decided to send him another text .  
  
(3:38) **Hey**  
  
(3:38) _What_.  
(3:39) _Leave me alone._  
  
(3:40) **Aw did I hurt your feelings**  
(3:41) **Anyway I wanted to ask**  
(3:41) **Why did u even want Nerds candy in the first place**  
  
(3:42) _None of your business_  
(3:44) _It's a perfectly normal snack_  
  
(3:44) **Yea if you're under the age of 4**  
  
(3:45) _Oh I'm sorry_ **.**  
(3:45) _I didn't know there was an age-limit for food._  
  
(3:46) **Of course you didn't**  
(3:46) **Have fun losing your teeth when youre 30 :)**  
(3:47) **Unless my earlier theory was correct and you are secretly 80**  
  
(3:47) _Since you know everything so well, what IS an acceptable snack_  
  
(3:47) **Chocolate chip cookies**  
(3:48) **Duh**  
  
A beat of silence. The three dots danced on the screen, indicating that the stranger was typing.  
Then:  
  
(3:50) _Fuck_  
  
(3:50) **HA**  
(3:50) **I** **knew** **it**  
  
(3:51) _Shut up_  
(3:52) _Just because you I agree with you this one time does NOT mean anything_  
  
(3:53) **Sure sure**  
(3:53) **That sounds like something a lose**  
  
Banri was still in the middle of his reply when a voice suddenly piped up. The sudden sound jolted him, his finger slipped and he accidentally pressed send. He blinked and stared at the message for a second, before sighing and turning towards the voice.  
  
Mr Taniguchi was standing in the doorway with an empty mug in his hand, looking like he had downed AT LEAST 7 cups of coffee while he was away. How that man managed to be a functioning human being, Banri didn't know. 'Mister Settsu, you're allowed to go home now. I hope you've learned your lesson.' Then, under his breath he added,' _I don't get paid enough for this_ ' and walked away.  
  
Surprised, Banri looked at the clock. He hadn't even realized that it was already this late; the time had suddenly flown by. Huh.  
  
(3:54) **oh** **fuck**  
(3:54) **freedom**  
  
(3:55) _Does this mean that you'll finally leave me alone._  
  
(3:55) **Yea**  
(3:55) **At least 'til sunday anyway**  
(3:56) **I got way better things to do than talk to you**  
(3:56) **Unlike you, I actually have friends**  
  
(3:57) _Then why are you still talking to me._  
  
At that, Banri actually let out an indignated sound. Then, as if to make a point, he pressed the 'exit chat' button with a lot more force than necessary and glared at the screen.  
He grabbed his jacket and bag, slung them over his shoulder and headed towards the door.

-  
  
Just as he was about to step outside, a familiar tune started playing from his phone. He pulled out his phone and accepted the incoming call.  
  
'Hey.'  
  
'Hey Banri, what're you up to.'  
  
'Just left detention. Again.'  
  
On the other side of the line, his friend let out a sound what was probably supposed to be sympathetic, but ended up sounding like a poorly concealed snort of amusement.

'What about you? Had to jump into any more ponds to escape your small horde of fangirls after you got lost in the park for an hour even though there was literally only one pathway, which led directly to the exit?' He teased back.  
  
He could hear his friend spluttering on his side of the line, no doubt looking flustered.  
'Okay, first of all, I didn't **JUMP** , I **FELL**. Second of all, that only happened like two or three times and third of all, can you _PLEASE_ stop bringing that up? It's worse enough that you filmed it last time instead of helping me, I don't need you to remind me any more.'  
Though the last part sounded more like a whine than a question, Banri knew that his friend wasn't actually upset at him. Or at least not **THAT** much.  
  
He snickered good-naturedly. 'Hey, at least I got your good side.'  
'Implying that I have a bad side?', the voice on the phone grumbled fake-upset.  
Banri laughed again. 'Seriously though, how are you?'  
  
'Oh, right!' His friend piped up, 'I almost forgot! I'm hanging out with this guy from school right now and I just found out he's got like, an amazing singing voice! So, I thought, maybe it'd be fun if the three of us went to the karaoke bar sometime this week? I could also invite Taichi- ('who now?' '...The classmate I introduced you to a few days ago? Red hair, reminds people of a dog?''...' 'You'll recognize him when you see him.') and maybe he'll bring HIS friend... but we can deal with that later. So, you up to it?'  
Banri could almost imagine the bright cocky grin on his friend's face as he finished explaining his idea, sounding really pleased with himself for coming up with it.  
  
'Sure, why not? You can just text me the details later, I'm basically free this whole week except for Sunday.'  
  
'Great, I'll let them know!'  
  
They chatted for a few more minutes until his friend had to go.  
  
'Duty calls!', as he called it, which roughly translated to ' _gotta fend of some teenage girls with a stick while not getting sued!'_.  
  
'Alright, I'll text you later. Bye, Banri!'  
  
'See ya, Tenma. Good luck with the girls. Try to avoid bodies of water.'  
  
And with that, he hung up and started to make his way home.

-  
  
On his way home, he passed Veludo Way, the main street of his neighborhood. As always, it was bustling with people.  
Just as he reached the end of the street, something caught his eye. He stopped walking and turned towards the small shop on the corner of the street.  
' _Crazy Candies_ ', the bright lollipop-themed sign said.

Banri didn't know why he stepped inside.  
  
There were only a handful of people, mostly younger kids, but it made the small shop look crowded anyway. Somewhere, further into the store, Banri could hear a muffled conversation.  
  
He started to scan the aisles, his hand slightly raised, letting it hover over all the rows of candies as he passed them. As he got closer to what he was looking for, the voices grew louder.  
  
'...you'll think he'll want these...or these?'  
  
'I already told you, I really think he'll be happy with whatever you get him-'  
  
'But he specifically entrusted ME to get him these! I can't disappoint hi-'  
  
'S'cuse me, can you move for a second? I just need to grab some of that' Banri interrupted.  
At the interruption, the two teenage boys, who were completely blocking the row, whipped their heads towards the sound.  
  
'O-of course! Sorry!', the purple haired one said, stepping to the side quickly, his face flushing. The other boy, who had black hair that reached his shoulders, didn't say anything, just gave him a sideway glance before also stepping aside.  
Banri hummed, and grabbed one of the boxes at random. Having found what he came for, he turned around and brushed past them, not paying them any mind.  
  
He vaguely heard the conversation he'd interrupted pick up again, but he tuned it out. It was already way later than he'd hoped to get home and he was supposed to do some tournaments with an online friend later this evening.

-  
  
_'But what if-'  
  
'Kumon, he's really not gonna- Why don't you just take both if you're so worried about it?' _  
  
_'...'  
  
'What now?' _  
  
_'You're really amazing, you know that, Azami?'_  
  
_'Huh? Shut up, don't say that while you're looking at me like that...!'_

-  
  
After having paid for the candy, Banri found himself outside of the store again. The sky was already turning nice shades of orange and pink. A fresh gust of wind breezed past him. Though he couldn't have been inside the store for more than ten minutes, his cheeks were warm and he welcomed the breath of fresh air.  
  
He looked down at the box in his hands. Nerds candy. He tore it open, took out one of the small candies and studied it for a second.  
  
He remembered how his sister would always give him the flavors she didn't like...even though Banri also didn't like them and she would always look on amused as his face scrunched up at the taste. Still, she gave them every time...and he ate them every single time.  
  
He softly smiled at the memory. Then, he carefully put the candy in his mouth.  
He made a face; it was just as, if not more, sickeningly sweet as he remembered.  
  
The thoughts of his sister suddenly shifted towards thoughts of the stranger.  
  
Open box still in his hand, he made his way home. Reaching into the box, he took another candy and put it in his mouth.  
  
By the time he reached the door, the box was _empty_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't completely sure if it was clear, but Banri tuning out the conversation is important because otherwise he'd have heard Azami call him Kumon and he knows who Kumon is, but I didn't know how to say that in a way that made sense
> 
> I wrote the first 1000 words last year and the rest in one afternoon and is probably shows lol
> 
> Me: I'm not gonna put in too many clichés  
> this chapter: :)))))
> 
> Next up (hopefully before next year lol): Midnight texting, karaoke date and probably more dumb stuff

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this! English isn´t my first language, so if there are any weird errors, please tell me!
> 
> Banri is personally my least favourite character, since he´s always so unnecessarily rude to Juza (Best Boy) who is just trying to not hate himself and eat sweets, but I´m soft for Enemies/Rivals to Lovers and Pining Banri is just- yes. And come on: It´s your fault I finally found something I give this much of a damn about´? ´It´s always you who gets me fired up´?
> 
> Also, I´ll probably explain later if Juza even knows who he is supposed to be texting lol
> 
> Also also, I have no idea how LIME/LINE works, so I just used WhatsApp logic, oops
> 
> You can follow me on insta on @a3_.stuff, I makes memes and stuff there :) If you hate Banri, love Juza, like BanJu or all of the above, feel free to DM me so we can scream about it together


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